Tigerettes Prepare for Upcoming Dance Season

The Lebanon High School Tigerettes dance team has been kicking butt this school year in preparation for competition season, their first one being held right here, at LHS. The team consists of 22 girls throughout all grades, with three coaches and two captains. “In Tigerettes you get the closest knit group of girl because of all the time we spend together and the fact that were with each other literally all year long, working hard, just proves us as a family,” said senior Kallie Leib.

Senior captain Kendra Nance fills us in on this year, and what is to be expected from the girls. “This year is different because of our new coach, we are also learning a lot more of new technique and skills, we are also doing pom as well.”

Pom is a similar form to cheer but in a dance way, that moves more swiftly and is more clean. Including pom in their routine increases their chances for making state this year, because it is uncommon from other school’s routines.

“It is a lot more demanding this year, it is different because we got our routines earlier last year, and it has just become a very tedious process,” said junior Reagan Davis.

Tigerettes is an all year activity. During the summer and fall they are a color guard and then transition to dance season during the winter and spring. Most schools have a color guard and then a dance team, but the Tigerettes are the only group in the state that do both color guard and dance.

“The best similarity is our forms, and marching season helps us out because during marching you must have a good posture, and because we are guard, we should always have good forms,” said junior Lauren Ferguson.

As an all year dance team, the girls have spent a measureless amount of time together. They have been preparing since July, spending a lot of time on jazz, hip hop, and pom.

“Being the only freshman in all 3 dances, yeah it is a bit stressful. But I need something like this, something to keep me on track,” said freshman Jasmine Murphy.

Although their first competition is being held at LHS, it is formally known as an invitational- where the hosting school holds the competition and performs, but does not compete.

On December 3rd, their invitational will be held at LHS, inviting 20-30 different schools. $7 for students and $9 for everyone else, performances start at 9 am. Lebanon does not perform until 9:32 am , beginning with Kallie Leib Solo, Jazz at noon, Pom at 12:40, and Hip Hop at 4:15. Featuring Kallie Lieb as a soloist performing “Listen” by Beyoncé. Kallie has been preparing for this routine for two or three months, using the routine at every competition.

“Performing with less people has gotten me more prepared for it,” said Lieb.

The bond that the Tigerettes have with each other inseparable.

“The family aspect is amazing-you create these bonds that I wish everyone could experiment because we have a lot of trust in each other,” Nance said. The girls are with each other 24/7, getting ready together, practicing new routines, and being available for each other as a family. “We as a team support all other teams for the school. One time we even went to support the cheerleaders at one of their competitions- they were really great,” said Davis.

“It is kind of like you have to get along together because there is so much trust and reliance on each other. I feel like with every sports team here there is a stereotypical viewpoint from everyone else and it is like a school wide thing so it really does not bother us as much, we have each other,” said another senior captain, Sarah Glauber.